We love audio description: UK broadcasters

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2013 has been a fantastic year for audio description (AD) users in the UK with television channels broadcasting around 6000 programmes with AD each week.

We love audio description: UK broadcasters

2013 has been a fantastic year for audio description (AD) fans in the UK with television channels broadcasting around 6000 programmes with AD each week.

In the first six months of 2013

Channel 4 delivered AD on 30.6 per cent of its content

Sky one delivered AD on 26.0 per cent of its content

ITV 1 delivered AD on 17.7 per cent of its content

BBC delivered AD on 16.0 per cent of its content

Five delivered AD on 10.1 per cent of its content

Out of the 63 channels that delivered AD during this period, eight channels exceeded the 30 per cent mark. E4 and Sky Movies Showcase described 44.4 and 43.7 per cent of their content respectively.

It is noteworthy, that even some of the niche channels such as Eden and GOLD have acknowledged the need for AD and have delivered a considerable percentage of their content with AD.

Eden delivered AD on 30.3 per cent of its content this year

GOLD with some the classic dramas such as Blackadder delivered AD on 34.9 per cent of its content this year

The Digital Media and Culture Department at RNIB have worked with the broadcasters, Ofcom and end users to ensure that provision and take-up of AD increases exponentially with each year. The journey that began almost a decade ago with AD being trialled on analogue television, has come a long way today and transformed the way people with sight loss watch television.

The complete report on television access services can be found on the Ofcom website